<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>When Your Family Sucks, Make A Better One by ChristyRe</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25435273">When Your Family Sucks, Make A Better One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristyRe/pseuds/ChristyRe'>ChristyRe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Asgardians look and are similar in biology to humans but have subtle differences, BAMF Tony Stark, Chubby Thor (Marvel), F/F, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), I mean it would make sense, I mean it’s Thanos everybody, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, It’s Thor, Jotunns are in the same boat biology-wise, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Loki has daddy issues, M/M, Minh Is A Nickname, Minh looked at Morgan and basically said ‘yep I’m your parental figure now’, Morgan Stark Exists But With A Twist, Most of them have trust issues so it’s not entirely his fault, Nobody could or would stop him to provide care for his children, Not Beta Read, Parent Tony Stark, Past Child Abuse, Peter Parker has ADHD, Protective Tony Stark, Slow Burn, So it would most likely be stated when they talk to therapists, Stephen Strange Needs a Hug, Stephen is trying to appear approachable to his children, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tony Stark Has Self-Esteem Issues, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Tony is a very rich man, We love a thicc boi, We’ll never see the abuse presently happening but it’s happened to the characters before, i love how that’s a tag, tony stark is a father figure, touch-starved loki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 08:02:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,501</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25435273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChristyRe/pseuds/ChristyRe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>New Asgard is testing out tourism and has paid trips for whoever signs up for them.</p><p>AKA Tony gets two more children, not like he’s complaining.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki &amp; Peter Parker, Loki &amp; Tony Stark, Michelle Jones &amp; Ned Leeds &amp; Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Morgan Stark &amp; Minh Lee, Ned Leeds &amp; Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker &amp; Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Welcome To New Asgard</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I’ve been reading a lot of Marvel fanfics lately and have been really into them. Here’s my addition to the pile.</p><p>(I’ve honestly only seen about 4 Marvel movies so don’t at me if something isn’t exactly right I’m just doing this for fun and this is literally fanfiction we do what we want here)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Morgan bounces in their conjoined seat on the bus doodling on her Etch-A-Sketch as the shuttles rumble surrounds them, acting like white noise. Minh entertains himself via knitting himself a scarf for Norway, the colder climate a definite change from the humid California days.<br/>
Morgans’ scarf is already snug around her neck knitted lovingly in a gold and red scheme to signify who her favorite hero is.</p><p>Minh just finishes off a row when he feels the ground shift as the rumbling that had been constant before suddenly stops and they slide across a smooth surface.</p><p>“We are now reaching New Asgard. If you could be so kind as to stay in your seats until the shuttle comes to a complete stop it would be much appreciated.”</p><p>Excited whispers buzz through the air as they reach the town creating an atmosphere of energy that hadn’t been present for ages.<br/>
Morgan shakes her Etch-A-Sketch firmly before tucking it back in her violet backpack and zipping it up securely. She scrambles to the side window attempting to sneak a peak of the town before the bus reaches it. He smiles a little at her show of excitement before turning his attention back to his scarf, determined to finish it before their destination.</p><p>By the time they depart from the shuttle, Minh has a multicolored scarf tied around his neck, providing him with warmth and an odd feeling of security. Two men that Minh vaguely recognize from news articles are waiting for the crowd at the bus stop.</p><p>“Hello friends!” Minh blinks because isn’t he supposed to be fierce as the God of Lightning?</p><p>“We welcome our guests with,” Thor not so subtly nudges Loki, “open arms!” He throws his arms out in a show of trust with Loki reluctantly doing the same, but somehow making the gesture mocking of Thor. “Now as we know that some of you have gone long distances in order to be here today,” Some yawns are heard through the crowd, “Me and my brother will be leading you to your rooms to unpack and ‘settle in’ as they say.” Minh looks down to go a scoop Morgan up onto his shoulders and doesn’t see her. Where-.</p><p>“Ahh, yes little one?” He hears Thor say from the front of the crowd. Minh makes his way up as he hears Morgans’ voice barely contain her excitement.</p><p>“Would Tony Stark be making an appearance today?” He’s at the front now and sees Thors’ brows raise, probably surprised in hearing something so articulate coming out of someone so small. Minh would know to not underestimate her, five dollar bills are nonexistent in his wallet.</p><p>“If everything goes to plan then we would be seeing Tony around 5 pm  today.” Thor says after collecting himself, looking more amused now than anything. Loki steps forward, intrigued,</p><p>“What is your name little mortal?” Morgan is about to answer herself before Minh scoops her up onto his shoulders,</p><p>“Morgan.” His voice is grainy and thick from disuse after sitting inside the bus for so long, “Morgan Lee if you wanna get technical.” Loki regards the newcomer with some scrutiny as Thor speaks to him,</p><p>“And who might you be fellow guest? Apologies as I have yet to memorize everyone’s name.” Minh shrugs,</p><p>“No one could fault you for that.” He holds out a hand but is careful to leave one on Morgans’ leg for support, “My name’s Minh Lee and yes, it does sound kinda stupid but what can you do?” Thor shakes his hand with more than a little concern while Loki tries to hide a laugh at how this mortal decided to introduce themself.</p><p>“Yes, well,” Thor turns back to the crowd, “follow me and brother to the castle, friends! I’m sure you will enjoy our scenic views while we walk.” The walk is easy with the ground flat and even. Minh takes a good look around now that where he is fully sinks in. The town borders the ocean making the air pungent with the smell of salt, the gentle winds constant and chilling despite that day being cloudless. He buries his mouth into his scarf, using his breath to compensate the cold.</p><p>Minh is glad to catch his breath when they reach the foot of the castle as Thor put it. It wasn’t actually a castle, not by a long shot, it’s more leaning towards quaint cottage/lodge if anything else. However, he guesses it could be called a castle as it seems to the the towns center and hub; a plethora of marketplace stalls surrounding the building with a ivy vines growing across the walls tying the rustic look altogether.</p><p>“You lot,” Loki starts as he points to the crowd, “separate how you’d like into the two buildings next to our ‘castle’.” Minh could hear the air quotes, “My brother and I will be supervising a building each.” Loki turns to walk to the left building, a group of twenty to fifteen year olds following behind the attractive god.</p><p>“I will supervise the building to the right, friends!” A group of older people in their fifties and sixties follow behind the Thunder God. Minh hums in thought, taking Morgan from his shoulders.</p><p>“Which would you like to go to Morgan?” Morgan considers the options: Thor would be nice to be around as he’s nice to everyone, but with Loki she could have the possibility of seeing some cool magic. The latter opportunity became far too tempting as she ends up hurriedly dragging him towards the house that Loki is looking after.</p><p>In the end, they got themselves situated in a room up on the second floor. It was a room in the top left corner of the floor and it faced the back alley of the building. Not the most scenic view, but they couldn’t snatch the other rooms fast enough. And if Minh remembers correctly, he’s not allowed to make his housemates move via physical force; ie punch them.</p><p>“This carpet’s so soft, Minh!” Morgan exclaims, rolling around on the area rug in the middle of the room, “I also get my own bed!” She pushes herself up and jumps into the plush mattress. If they ever needed to rent a room, they usually share a bed as it’s cheaper and they usually only hang around the place for about a day and drive home at night. As this trip is experimental for New Asgard, all expenses are paid for as long as you’re willing to participate.</p><p>“Am I too hot to cuddle?” He’s woken been up in the middle of the night to see Morgan hastily crawling out of the steaming blankets to sleep on the floor. He knows for a fact that his body acts as some sort of space heater for others, he just doesn’t know why his body gives off so much heat in the first place. Morgan nods at his statement while setting up the bed to her preference,</p><p>“I wonder if Loki would be willing to show me some of his magic! I’m sure it’ll be amazing!” Minh hums in agreement as he places Matilda, his small stuffed elephant, onto the bed with a soft jingle,</p><p>“He seems to appreciate others with wit and intelligence.” He gets up and squats down to eye level with Morgan, “Which you have a lot of.” He ruffles her hair fondly with a smile before heaving her up into his arms, “Got the bed to how you want it?” Morgan nods happily,</p><p>“I can’t wait to finally meet Tony Stark today!” She breaks off into a yawn at which point Minh sets her back onto the bed and takes off her shoes.</p><p>“Take a nap and I’ll wake you before Mr. Stark comes.” Morgan smiles dopily before drifting off into dreamland. Minh entertains himself for the next hour by unpacking the rest of their luggage from each of their suitcases and carry-on’s. He goes to the dressers at the foot of each of their beds and gets to work organizing them into the different drawers. This menial task takes him fifteen minutes to complete; doing it so often at home has trained him. </p><p>He placed Morgan’s backpack against her bed knowing that it holds her Etch-A-Sketch, her favorite snacks, her Walkie Talkie, her Wet hairbrush, a few of her hair accessories and ties, and her orange-shaped water bottle. He helped her pack it after all. While Morgan’s suitcase mostly contained clothes and bed items as she had insisted that she had to take both Mr. Wiggles and Teddy Rosevelt along with her galaxy comforter; his suitcase mainly consisted of necessities though half of it is taken up via his body pillow as he usually enjoys caging himself into his bed at night.</p><p>He sets Morgan’s bathrobe and towel on top of the dresser along with a bottle of lotion he had brought despite her protests. On his dresser, he sets his bathrobe and face towel along with his tub of body cream, face moisturizer, I scented body soap, and dandruff shampoo. He had forgotten about that shampoo once and he’d woken up to a pillow full of dead skin. Not something he’d forget again.</p><p>Seeing as he has thoroughly unpacked their suitcases, he pulls out his body pillow and sets it on the bed and looks inside his own yellow backpack for something to do. He pulls out his laptop, his sketch pad, his pencil case, his pink water bottle, his Walkie Talkie, his copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins, a heavy duty first aid kit, and his orange-shaped water bottle that’s actually filled with orange juice which he sips from.</p><p>He has plenty of options to burn through the next half-hour, he’s just indecisive. Horribly indecisive. He finishes off his orange juice and places it to the side. Finally, he decides to take his sketch pad and a pencil to map out the house. He finds the exercise oddly soothing, helping him settle into new settings easier.</p><p>Putting everything back inside his bag, he’s careful to open the door as quietly as he can before side stepping outside and closing. Walking around he finds that all the windows in the hallways all have white painted shutters, drawing a sketch of them inside his pad and then writing the amount of them underneath the sketch. He does the same to the sturdy doors, the paneled flooring, and the ceiling lights. Minh checks his watch and is pleased to find that it’s time to wake Morgan up from her nap.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. It’s Your Friendly Neighborhood IronMan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Morgan finally gets to meet Tony Stark after 5 years of life.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’ll be rotating POV’s because I want to write in the other characters views but I also want to introduce my OC properly. Just staying on one POV is boring though so we’re doing this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Morgan snorts in surprise when she feels someone shaking her.</p><p>“Wake up, Mr. Stark’s gonna be here real soon. You wouldn’t want to miss that would you?” Morgan sits up at that, locking Minh with a star struck stare.</p><p>“This isn’t a dream?” He pokes her cheek,</p><p>“Nope.” He hauls her to her feet and hold out her shoes to her feet which she shove on. As soon as she has her shoes on she rushes to the door and flings it open. Minh laughs at her haste, regardless she hears him run with her through the hallways and down the stairs. She plops herself down onto the couch and looks at Minh expectantly. She lets him catch his breath before he talks,</p><p>“I think they’ll be leading us somewhere to meet him soon. Just wait a little bit longer.” Morgan pouts at the statement,</p><p>“But I’ve been waiting!” Minh sits down next to her on the couch,</p><p>“You’ve been sleeping.” He says factually, smoothing down her sleep ruffled hair.</p><p>“Still counts.” He shrugs as Morgan hears a crowd walking down the stairs. She turns herself around on the couch and sees Loki smile at her,</p><p>“Come little one, we’re off to see Tony in the castle.” Morgan leaps off the couch and bursts out the door, running full throttle into the castle.</p><p>Thor and a group of strangers turn around at her sudden entrance, but also,</p><p>“Tony Stark!!” She squeals in delight. He seems surprised to see her, but she speed walks up to him regardless, “I am your biggest fan!”</p><p>He seems to come back to himself as he smiles down at her, crouching to her eye level, “Is that so?” The tone is endearing rather than mocking; she makes the distinction as Minh frequents the tone often. She nods,</p><p>“You’re so cool when you beat up the bad guys! You also built your own suit to fight in which is really cool!” She bounces in place, unable to contain her excitement, “Minh says that he enjoys your environmental gadgets!” Tony is pleased with their interaction,</p><p>“Oh? And who might that be?” She pauses,</p><p>“He’s kinda my brother, but also like my dad!” He’s confused by her wording so she tries to explain it further, “About a year ago he took me into his house after he saw me sleeping outside.” She says this quieter as Minh explained to her that her story tends to be a sensitive topic. Tony was about to say something else until his eyes avert to the door opening behind her.</p><p>“You couldn’t have waited for me to catch up?” She hears Minh say this and she tilts her head up to look at him.</p><p>“I was excited.” She retorts,</p><p>“I’m glad you are. I was just messing with you.” She feels him pick her up again and she lets him as she realized that he tends to do it more often in unfamiliar places or situations. Also, it’s nice not having to walk. He holds her in one arm and uses his other to support her across the chest.</p><p>“You’re Minh I’m assuming.” Minh nods and Morgan takes their silence to look around Tony,</p><p>“Who are you?” She spots two other people standing relatively close to Tony. One has curls while the other has weird facial hair.</p><p>“I’m Peter Parker! And this,” he points to the man with odd facial hair, “is Mister Strange!”</p><p>“Doctor Stephen Strange.” Morgan smiles as she recognized the robed man,</p><p>“You’re that cool wizard guy with the glowing orange circles?” Stephen sighs at the usage of wizard,</p><p>“I’m actually Sorcerer Supreme,” he gives a pointed stare to Tony who’s now across the room talking to Thor, “Those glowing circles you see are how I was taught to perform my magic.” He creates a small mandala in his hand, it acting like a surface, “Eldritch magic.”</p><p>Morgan traces the symbols etched into the mandala before it disintegrates into a shower of orange sparks. She notices the small tremors in Stephen’s hands but he asks her something before she could,</p><p>“Now that you know my name, what’s yours?”</p><p>“It’s Morgan!” A look of recognition flashes across Stephen’s face, which is weird since she’s never met him before, but it disappears just as quickly as it had happened. He gives her an easy smile,</p><p>“Morgan is a wonderful name.” He sounds melancholic when he says that but she takes the complement,</p><p>“Thank you!” Minh has told her to always be polite whenever someone is nice to you. Peter bounces in place next to Stephen, seemingly waiting his turn to speak,</p><p>“We’re about to have a party soon, but Mister Stark said that it’s an ‘adults party’ so he’s putting all of the underage people into a couple rooms so that we don’t drink anything we aren’t supposed to.” He blurts this out all in one breath and Morgan takes sometime to decipher it,</p><p>“So, I don’t get to see Tony Stark for the rest of the night?” Peter shakes his head, </p><p>“He doesn’t drink a lot when I’m here. I think he likes to check up on me.” His cheeks flush when he admits that and is about to say more until he’s tackled by two other people. Morgan feels Minh’s arm tighten around her in shock, but feels him relax a second later.</p><p>“Peter!” A girl holds up a device that Morgan has ever only saw in passing, “Guess who finally got a Switch!” Peter and the other boy smile mischievously,</p><p>“Fall into this rabbit hole with us MJ.” The boy says,</p><p>“Soon you’ll be consumed by Animal Crossing just like the rest of us.” Peter adds on. MJ laughs,</p><p>“Quit it. Only you and Ned are consumed by that silly game.” They other two gain an offended expression as MJ notices the two strangers next to her.</p><p>“Who are you two?” Morgan bounces as she happily answers her questions as they follow the group to another room. The door is opened and Minh sets her down to explore the activity-filled room. Morgan has never seen so many video games in one place except when they go and play the demo games in the video game section of a store. Morgan plops herself down onto the couch situated in front of the tv and is handed a controller.</p><p>“Play Minecraft with us?” Peter seems ecstatic at the prospect and Morgan nods, excited to play.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Puzzles Are Better Than People</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The gang invites the two guests to a sleepover.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>None of these are beta’d, so if you see mistakes that’s solely my doing lmao. I’ll go back and edit small errors later since most of them aren’t glaring problems. Hope you all enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Minh walks to the wall filled with jigsaw puzzles and smiles lightly as he pulls one out with the scenic view of a sunlit cottage. As he sits down onto a chair and pours the pieces out onto the table in the corner, Doctor Strange slides into the second seat.</p><p>“Shouldn’t you be mingling at the party?” Minh asks, a bit peeved, but  refusing to look up from where he was sorting the pieces into corners and sides. The Doctor shrugs,</p><p>“Sent a doppelgänger. Those kinds of parties aren’t really that exciting.” Minh hums in acknowledgment,</p><p>“How are we more exciting than alcohol?” Those liquids are how adults dealt with reality isn’t it? Minh never really saw the appeal.</p><p>“Trust me, alcohol isn’t that great.” Now it’s Minh’s turn to shrug as he digs around for a matching side piece,</p><p>“Seems like adults are obsessed with it.” He makes a sound of accomplishment as he finishes the outline for the puzzle, “I’m not of legal drinking age yet, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand why.” He wrinkles his nose at the memory of the smell of booze contaminating the house before pushing that thought away. Doctor Strange spares a glance towards the couch where Morgan and the others are playing Minecraft.</p><p>“You seem to care a lot about Morgan.” He says this dismissively like he was just throwing an idea in the air between them. Minh looks up,</p><p>“Um, yeah? Why wouldn’t I?” He’s defensive and glad his voice didn’t falter at the confrontation as the Doctor continues to talk.</p><p>“It’s just...I appreciate it. Thank you.” Strange stares off into nothing as he says this, as if looking at another reality that ceased to be.</p><p>“You’re welcome?” He attempts to be polite in the odd situation he’s found himself in, hoping that he wouldn’t have to comfort the stranger before Strange seems to hop onto another train of thought entirely.</p><p>“So, you like puzzles?” His attempt at small talk is horrible. To be fair, his is worse so there’s really no room to judge. He nods to the statement as his attention is pulled back to the jigsaw in front of him. He hears explosions from the tv and shrieks of delight coming from Morgan as they play around in creative mode.</p><p>“Here.” Minh flinches, he forgot that Strange had been there. He takes the offered piece, huffing. After all, he wasn’t blind,</p><p>“I could do this by myself, but thanks.” Now he can’t shake the feeling that the man was analyzing him, his stare piercing and intent on figuring him out. Figuring out what is the thought that has Minh on edge and unable to focus as his fight or flight instincts argue with each other in his mind.</p><p>“Minh!” He hears Morgans’ voice from the couch. Grateful for the distraction he gets up and walks over,</p><p>“Yes?” Morgan points him towards the screen to which he sees a squiggle of yellow with beady pupils made from buttons,</p><p>“Guess what I built!” Minh knew immediately that it was Mr. Wiggles, having seen enough of her drawings to recognize the fuzzy worm. However,</p><p>“Is it a banana?” Morgan shakes her head laughing,</p><p>“How does it look like a banana? It’s Mr. Wiggles!” Minh pretends to squint in thought as he takes a seat next to her on the couch.</p><p>“Could’ve sworn it was just a fuzzy banana.” Morgan pouts at this,</p><p>“Minh, stop joking around. You pull this joke all the time.” Morgan pokes his cheek, “I can see through your deception.”</p><p>“Really?” Minh plays dumb, finding this shtick hilarious whenever he pulls it off. Morgan shrugs, seemingly done with his charade,</p><p>“Do you want to play we with me, Minh?” Before he could give his opinion a controller is placed into his hands and he’s playing. His movements are jerky, unlike how Peter glides along with practiced ease in front of him as he tours a newly generated world.</p><p>“The first basic material that you get is by punching trees.” Morgan trails behind him as he lectured on about resources while Minh continues to just supply others with wood and experimenting with the world and controls. Basically, pressing every button and destroying everything because he can. He jumps when he hears the door crack open,</p><p>“Found your hiding spot, douchebag.” Stark deadpans as he steps into the room,</p><p>“Well, it’s not my fault that you didn’t think of looking here first.” Strange snarks back and for a moment Minh is anxious that they were about to fight until Stark loses his composure and breaks out into laughter.</p><p>“Seriously though, Lokes is complaining about you having the luxury to send out a doppelgänger while he has to stay outside.” Minh smiles despite his lingering anxieties,</p><p>“Lokes?” The nickname, though not ridiculous is funny in the context that the person in question is basically an immortal god.</p><p>“Yeah, thought it fitting considering our newfound companionship required a more affectionate nickname than Reindeer Games.” Minh can feel Morgan once again vibrating with excitement next to him until she springs up from the couch and over to Mr. Stark. They strike up an avid conversation and Minh once again sits comfortably in the background as everyone else contributes to the conversation around him.</p><p>“!...what do you think Minh?” It takes him a moment to come back from his daydreams that usually occur when he’s stressed. When he does he realizes that Morgan had asked him something and was waiting for a timed response.</p><p>“Sorry. About what?” He’s disoriented as he asks,</p><p>“Would you be okay if Morgan has a sleepover with us?” Peter asks, bouncing around and obviously hoping the answer would be yes. Minh was about to say no because they barely knew them for one thing so why would he trust them? Secondly, he doesn’t like strangers or other people in general and the fact that he’d have to tag along makes him more nervous-</p><p>“Minh?” Morgans’ voice grounds him again before he could drift off into a mental rant. He takes one look at her hopeful stare and sighs in defeat,</p><p>“Sure.” He really hopes that Morgan doesn’t find out how much power she holds over him as he watches her bounce around with excitement. Peter and his friends seem to be in the same boat as her as they all gleefully talk about what they were going to do later. “Only if I come too and there’s adult supervision.” He hears the group groan behind him,</p><p>“Aren’t you an adult, Minh? You can supervise us!” Minh frowns at Morgan,</p><p>“I’m nineteen, hardly an adult.” Peter chimes in,</p><p>“But technically you’re an adult so-“</p><p>“Nope. We’re having at least one actual adult or else there’s no sleepover.” The group look at each other in distress before Strange speaks up,</p><p>“I wouldn’t mind looking over all of you.” They perk up and immediately start rambling about activities and games while Minh stays uncomfortable about the whole situation.</p><p>“Me and Lokes will join in as well if that’s alright?” Minh didn’t even have to look at Morgan to know what his answer would be.</p><p>“Yes. It’s fine.” His voice sounds strained. He hopes that Stark doesn’t hear that. His fingers thrum on the edge of the olive couch as he thinks about how sometimes he envies Morgan’s carefree attitude towards life; not overthinking everything would be nice.</p><p>“Are you sure?” He heard it, “I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Minh’s nervous but the room is what’s making him more tense than his request,</p><p>“Can we talk outside for just a moment?” Stark seems surprised at the request but follows him outside when he walks past the group who’re now silent. Being outside of the room makes him feel a little better as there wasn’t anybody else near them; causing the feeling of suffocation to ease up. Distant chatter from the party fills up the silence between them before Minh speaks,</p><p>“I’ve never been good with people. Just so you know.” He slides down the wall to sit on the ground. He feels silly after saying that, it’s kind of obvious that he’s awkward and stilted towards everybody. Glancing to the side he’s surprised to find Stark joining him on the cold, hardwood floor.</p><p>“Why did you come here then?” He asks this gently, as if afraid to offend him in some way. Minh shrugs,</p><p>“I wanted to make Morgan happy.” Stark hums at that,</p><p>“Even if what makes them happy makes you uncomfortable right?” He nods, surprised that Tony seemed to actually understand and process what he was saying,</p><p>“I mean you’re, like, her biggest idol and... I just wanted to make her feel special.” Minh ruffles his hair, attempting to release some more of his tension, “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me to be honest. I just....”</p><p>“Don’t want to mess up?” Tony smiles, melancholic, “I can relate to that.” Minh snorts in response,</p><p>“Why exactly am I telling this to you?” Tony shrugs, grinning,</p><p>“Don’t know, maybe we have similar baggage.”</p><p>“And I can what? Sense a vibe coming from you that we both have Daddy Issues or something?” Tony seems to not want to push the topic further as he gets up from the ground,</p><p>“Mmmaybe.” Tony holds out a hand, “You coming?” Minh pushes himself up from the ground,</p><p>“Yep.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have a backlog of chapters so I may or may not update this frequently, but I’ll do it as often as I can when my life gives me breaks to post lol.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Biology Can Be Weird</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The sleepover commences!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony’s only slightly disappointed that the kid hadn’t taken his hand before trying to start up some small talk. After all, they were just bonding,</p><p>“So, what foods does Morgan enjoy? We should know if she’s going to sleep over.” He finds it adorable that Minhs’ eyes seem to light up whenever he talks about Morgan.</p><p>“She likes sandwiches and jams the most. I believe she also enjoys bell peppers and cauliflower.” Tony remembers something that he had wanted to ask earlier, the memory being jogged by how Minh worded his sentence.</p><p>“I’m sorry to ask but what did Morgan mean she had been on the streets before you took her in?” By asking that question, it seems as if Minhs’ walls are up again as he responds with a curt,</p><p>“Exactly what you think it means.” Before walking back into the room to probably lighten the mood that it was left in.</p><p>“Attempting to bond with the boy?” Tony isn’t startled when he feels Loki fade into view next to him as he sighs,</p><p>“Yeah, that kid is super guarded.”</p><p>“I admire his loyalty to the little one.” Loki smiles, one that is small and sweet and makes Tonys’ heart melt, “It’s clear that he truly cares for her.”</p><p>“I just worry that she’s all he has. It’s not bad by any means that he cares about her, but he’s only nineteen Lokes.” Loki raises a brow,</p><p>“So?” That causes Tony to give him a look,</p><p>“Isn’t that a little too young to be basically a single parent?” Loki huffs,</p><p>“All mortals are young to me.”</p><p>“Well I’m sorry that not all of us have been alive for nearly 1,000 years.” Loki frowns, as if remembering something unpleasant. Tonys’ scared for a moment that he’d upset him until he’s given a small hug.</p><p>“Sometimes you care too much Tony. You have to remember that you can’t save everyone and that you shouldn’t have to.” Tony hums in acknowledgment,</p><p>“Doesn’t stop me from damn well trying now does it?” Loki laughs affectionately, albeit a little melancholic.</p><p>“You’re a stubborn mortal.” Tonys’ about to make a comeback somewhere along the lines of “You’re a worried god” until the door opens again and Peter pops his head outside before pulling it back in when MJ calls for him.</p><p>“We’re about to have a sleepover soon Lokes, wanna join us?”</p><p>The party couldn’t end soon enough as Tony finally greets the final patron goodnight before closing the front door with finality.</p><p>“Sleepover time?” He looks up to find Peter already in his halloween-themed pajamas and looking ecstatic,</p><p>“Yep, now that that party is over, this party can get started!” He sprints back with Peter to the section of the cottage where they were staying. MJ and Ned look up startled as they have their hands joined on a Ouija Board.</p><p>“Guys I already told you-“ Morgan halts in her tracks, arms full of candles.</p><p>“Whaaaat?” Ned whines, “The kids into this kinda stuff!” Morgan perks up at that,</p><p>“Minh has told me all of the original fairy tales and I enjoy them much more than Disney!” Peter gasps theatrically at this which makes Tony laugh. Peter giggles at his own exaggerated reaction,</p><p>“I bet you’ve watched tons of horror movies with him too!” Morgan shrugs as she places the candles in a neat circle,</p><p>“Minh can’t handle horror.” She pouts when the pack of matches was taken from her as MJ lights the wicks, “He’s told me that he doesn’t like the shouting or sudden loud noises.” Tony files that fact away to think more about later as Morgan giggles at a memory, “Whenever he takes me to a movie theater to watch horror, he always takes along earplugs and an eye mask so he could take a nap!”</p><p>“By the way, where is he?” Ned points to the hallway beside them; Tony now distinguishing the sound of a sink running,</p><p>“Restroom.” Minh walks out after turning off the facet, the light from the candles reflecting off his brown eyes.</p><p>“What’d I miss?” Morgan gleefully retells the events of what had happened while he was away when Tony’s phone suddenly goes off.</p><p>“Sorry,” He smiles when he sees the contacts name, “I’ll stand over there and take this call.” He clicks on the revive button and places the phone to his ear,</p><p>“Hi Tony!” Harvey exclaims from the speaker, “Guess who just started Summer break!”</p><p>“Hey kid, it’s good to hear from you again.” Harvey laughs from the other side,</p><p>“Same goes for you. Just wanted to call to tell you that I’ll be there in Norway with you soon!” Tony is struck with something,</p><p>“Kid, have I ever introduced you to another kid named Peter before?” A negative sound is made from Harvey as a response, “Well, this’ll be interesting then. I’ll see you when you arrive!”</p><p>“Alright, just don’t stay up all night waiting!” And with that the call cuts off.</p><p>“Who was that Mister Stark?” Peter questions as he rejoins the group in front of the couch.</p><p>“Your older brother, Harvey.” Peter turns to look at him in confusion until a orange portal sliced open behind them.</p><p>“We’re back with pizza.” Tony’s stomach rumbles as he remembers at how little he’s eaten on account of how excited he’d been to get the trip started.</p><p>“Yeeeess, gimme gimme.” Tony makes grabby hands towards the steaming box as Loki steps out of the portal before it closed behind him.</p><p>“Stephen took me to a bakery while we were out as well. He let me choose the ones we would purchase.” Loki says gleefully, having a major sweet tooth, setting down the florally decorated box next to them on the floor. “May I ask what you all are doing?” Both Ned and Minh have broken into the pastry box and were munching on some chocolate croissants as Tony responds with a mouthful of pizza,</p><p>“Ghost stuff.” Loki cocks his head to that, reminiscent of a cat.</p><p>“The board is to communicate to the spirits if I’m correct?” At Peters’ nod, his own mouth full of pizza, he continues, “What are the candles for?”</p><p>“Ambiance.” Stephen supplies, taking a look around the circle. “Tony, both you and Peter have sauce all over your mouths.” They both complain when Stephen rubs each of their faces with napkins. He ruffles Peters’ hair adoringly when he finishes and pressed a light kiss to Tonys’ cheek. Loki seems to pout at this as he munched on a pistachio macaroon.</p><p>“Where’s my show of affection?” Stephen chuckles as he ruffles Lokis’ hair as well. This makes Loki uncharacteristically flush, but he has a pleased smile on his face. Tony smiles, pressing a kiss to Stephens’ cheek in return. Peter makes fake gagging sounds as MJ and Ned freak out over the gestures. Morgan is staring,</p><p>“What’s up Maguna?” Her stare is unnerving,</p><p>“Boys can date boys?!” Morgans’ stare is of awe and shock which Tony smiles easily to,</p><p>“Sure can Mango.” Tony hears a mumbled “Be gay do crime” from Stephen and he gives him a poke which the Sorcerer pouts at.</p><p>After dinner, they clean up the boxes and plates to pile around the couch and watch a movie. Suggestions were thrown around for a bit until they settle for Ponyo.</p><p>“I hear from other mortals that this director is infamous in Midgard.” Loki says as MJ selects the movie from the digital player. The movie starts and Loki likes to point out details.</p><p>“The art style is different and somehow similar from ones we’ve watched before.” Loki mumbles against his shoulder. Tony feels blessed that he trusts him enough for physical touch considering how touch-starved the god turned out to be mixed with the conflicts of his assortment of trust issues.</p><p>“Studio Ghibli is kind of like the Disney of Japan.” Tony mumbles back slowly placing a hand in Lokis’ hair so that he’d have time to react. As soon as his hand sunk into curls Loki makes a sound akin to a purr, encouraging Tony to massage his scalp.</p><p>“What’s Japan?” Tony feels the gears turning in his head as he arranges a potential new trip to that island.</p><p>“It’s an island nation on the other side of the planet. I think you’d enjoy it there.” Loki hums in response, Tony thinks he’s planning to do some research of his own with the help of FRIDAY, Loki calls her his spirit friend, when they get back.</p><p>When the movie ends about an hour or so later, there’s a silence that’s quickly broken by everyone getting up to stretch or getting up for the restroom among other things. Loki is busy snuggling Tony, soaking up the affection, as Morgan slides from Minhs’ lap. Minh must’ve been asleep or something since his body seems to jerk and he grabs Morgan as she’s walking away, but let’s go a second later.</p><p>“Sorry,” Morgan gives him a thumbs up, “where are you going?”</p><p>“Kitchen for water.” She picks up her glass from the table and walks the opposite way of the kitchen.</p><p>“Kitchen’s that way, kid.” Morgan blushed in embarrassment, but smiles for his help as she walks away. “Aren’t you going to follow her?” Tony has seen Minh essentially glued to Morgan the entire night and it seemed weird that he’d let her go off on her own like that.</p><p>“I was about to, but Morgan and I had a talk recently and she told me that when I follow her around like that it makes her feel smothered. We compromised saying that I would follow her in public or unknown spaces but that she can roam around in safe places.”</p><p>“She’s a smart kid. She realizes why I do it and why it makes her uncomfortable in certain situations. I’m doing my best to respect her boundaries whenever she tells me what they are.” Tony is touched by what he says, thinking what Loki had commented earlier about the kid.</p><p>“You believe that this is a safe place?”</p><p>“Am I supposed to feel unsafe surrounded by people who’ve saved the Earth?” Minh says in a sarcastic tone, smirking a little.</p><p>“Touché.” Tony says in turn, glad that he’s letting his walls down again. That or he could just be sleepy considering that he was probably resting during the entire movie.</p><p>“Also, my legs fell asleep on me. So now I’m trapped.” Loki, who’s been listening the whole time, cocks his head again.</p><p>“Mortals body sections can fall asleep?” Tony really needs to remind himself to teach Loki how human biology works since that time he’d gotten allergies and both Norse gods were preparing for his inevitable demise.</p><p>“It’s just nicknamed as falling asleep Lokes. It usually happens because of a lack of blood flow and nerve communication to a certain area.” Loki looks concerned and Tony is quick to reassure, “It’s not harmful, it just means you’ve been holding a certain position for too long. As soon as we move the blood flow is stronger and we can feel that limb again.”</p><p>“So the blood flow is blocked due to pressure?” Tony nods as Loki speaks, “For Asgardians they can hold a position for as long as they’d like since their nervous system can’t be blocked by pressure. However now that I think about it, they’re blood flow does get blocked instead and the places affected cramp.” Tony finds this interesting as Loki is never too keen to talk about his culture and Tony is never one to push when he clearly wasn’t comfortable. Maybe this is how Loki is trying to connect to Minh? Knowledge is valuable to him and sharing it is a sign of friendship?</p><p>“Is it painful?” Loki tenses at Tonys’ question and he mentally slaps himself for his mistake.</p><p>“I wouldn’t know since I’m not Asgardian. You could always ask Thor.” Lokis’ response was curt and short as was whenever they ask something like this.</p><p>“Can your blood flow and nerves be blocked Loki?” Tony is surprised to hear Minh ask. The kid is pretty closed off after all. Tony is mulling over this while Loki is happily changing the subject,</p><p>“My blood flow doesn’t seem to cut off while my nervous system does. If I stay in a position too long my nerves force their way through and cause me to twitch or shiver.” Tony remembers the first time he’d seen Loki do that and he’d asked if he was cold which rewarded him with a genuine laugh from the god.</p><p>“I’m back!” Morgan sing songs as she plops herself back onto Minhs’ lap.</p><p>“How was your trip to the kitchen?” Morgan perks up at her recollection of her journey,</p><p>“There was a toaster in there that can toast four slices of bread! It made my head explode!”</p><p>“I didn’t know there were toasters like that!” Minh says, Tonys’ surprised to see him begin to get excited as well, “Do you remember anything else?” Morgan giggles,</p><p>“You could just go and look at it yourself.” Minhs’ smile falters as he tugs Morgan a little closer.</p><p>“Nah. I’d rather stay with you.” Morgan squirms in his hold, looking uncomfortable,</p><p>“Minh, you’re doing the thing again.” Morgan sighs as she’s let go and moves to sit next to Tony instead. “Imma sit over here until my feet turn numb.” She says gleefully, removing her shoes to sit with crosses legs on the couch.</p><p>“I’m going to sleep to bury the pain and betrayal.” Minh says fairly sarcastically, the kind of statement you make where you’re half hurt and half you don’t really want to talk about why and you play it off as a joke.</p><p>Tony was about to say more, but decides it’s better off to be more private when he sees the others coming back. He has the same feeling about these kids that he had about Harvey, Peter, Loki, and even Shuri. If anything, his intuition hasn’t failed him quite yet.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you all are safe and happy during this pandemic :3c</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Anyone Can Cook</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The gang eats some homemade stuff.</p>
<p>Warning: Implied child abuse (If you’re triggered by that, but still want to read just stop reading when the slashes appear)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Minh almost drops the stick of butter in his hands when he hears someone else entering the kitchen. He turns around to see Peter and his friend Ned shuffling inside the area, seemingly just gotten up.</p>
<p>“Hey Minh.” Minh waves his hand in response to Peter before turning his attention back to the mixing bowl and placing the room temperature butter inside. “What’re you making?” The boy leans over his shoulder to look and Minhs’ flinch goes unnoticed.</p>
<p>“...Crepes.” Peter cocks his head which Minh realizes is a mannerism he most likely picked up from Loki.</p>
<p>“Isn’t that difficult?” Peter moves back when Minh began to whisk the bowl.</p>
<p>“Not if you work fast.” Peter continues to glance at him, half awake fascination as he puts away the Honey Nut Cheerios that Ned had taken out to the complaint of the other. “Do you want to learn how?”</p>
<p>That’s how Minh ended up teaching them both how to spread the batter onto the pan and created a work line for assembling the crepes. By the time Morgan and Teddy Roosevelt were awake, they had three plates with different fillings and a plate of plain ones. Morgan’s happily eating apart the jam pyramid when she looks over at Minh a little closer.</p>
<p>“Did you sleep last night?” Minh laughs nervously under her and Teddy Roosevelt’s scrutiny,</p>
<p>“What makes you say that?” She gives him a look and places her hand on top of his. He looks at his hand to find that he’d been tapping a fork against the table. When-</p>
<p>“You get really fidgety when you’re deprived of sleep.” Minh places the fork back on the table. As much as he’d like to argue against the point Morgan just made, the one that he can’t do really well was lie so he just sighs in defeat.</p>
<p>“I really shouldn’t underestimate how observant you are.” Morgan giggles at the praise, but still seems upset about his lack of sleep. He looks across the table to find that both Ned and Peter were too engrossed into their game to pay much attention to their conversation. “You know I have trouble sleeping. It’s not exactly something I can control.” He’d once recited the entire Gettysburg Address repeatedly inside his mind and still wasn’t able to sleep. Though he seemed to have no trouble with that during history class when the teacher kept replaying that one video of someone reading out loud the speech for the entire class period.</p>
<p>“It’s not like I can stop worrying about you either.” Morgan retorts, biting into a Nutella-filled crepe, “Now I also know why you hadn’t brought Matilda with you last night.”</p>
<p>“Touché.” Morgan was about to ask what that word meant since he’s never used it before, partially because he’d forgotten the word had existed, when a sleep disoriented Tony walks in with a bed head Loki clinging to him like a lifeline. It’s an oddly domestic scene that Minh feels uncomfortable at looking in on, but slides a plate of crepes towards them regardless.</p>
<p>Loki blinks, seemingly trying to understand what was being asked of him until Tony feeds him a crepe at which point he’s fully awake and happily eating away at the stacks.</p>
<p>“Peter, Ned, eat your breakfast.” Tony says with his own mouth full of a whip cream crepe, wanting to make sure that they didn’t form bad eating habits most likely. Minh can understand the sentiment. They both complain, but go to eat regardless. They’re all chewing when Tony seems to notice the dishes inside the sink.</p>
<p>“Wait, I just realized something. Did you guys make these?” He sounds proud, a little disbelief hinted into his voice. Peter nods enthusiastically,</p>
<p>“Yep! Minh showed us how!” Tony is surprised. Alright it’s not that shocking that he knows how to cook, what does he think he’s been feeding Morgan anyways?</p>
<p>“That’s impressive!” Tony smiles at him and Minh feels warm with the praise.</p>
<p>“My dad taught me that recipe when I was little. I make them more often now because they’re one of Morgans’ favorite breakfast foods.” Morgan smiles around a crepe at that which in turn causes Minh to smile.</p>
<p>“He sounds like a wonderful person, Minh. I hope that we’d be able to meet at some point.” Morgan immediately stiffens next to him, quickly attempting to judge his reaction.</p>
<p>“Well that’s going to be tricky.” Tony’s confused by his wording, he doesn’t want him to find out anyways, but Strange and MJ show up so he doesn’t say anything to him. </p>
<p>Minh has noticed that whenever something concerning his problems come up, Tony seems to shut down whenever someone else who wasn’t part of the conversation comes into the picture. He wonders if he’s like those other adults that just pretend to care and are simply just humoring him. Tony doesn’t seem like that kind of person, however he can never be too sure.</p>
<p>“What’re you guys eating?”</p>
<p>After they finished off all the crepes Minh is slightly impressed by their accomplishment. Against his insistence that he’s fine and that he could do it by himself, they send him to the sink with Loki to do the dishes. Loki instead smirks and flicks his wrist once. Minh hears a deft clattering noise and glances at the drying rack to see that the dishes were dripping wet, already set out to dry.</p>
<p>“That’s really cool.” Minh smiles easily at Loki, the other blushing a little at the praise. “Is you’re magic the same as or is it different to Doctor Strange? I’ve noticed that your magic is green while his is orange.” Loki huffs at the comparison,</p>
<p>“His magic is entirely different from mine.” He snaps his fingers and a small ball of emerald flame appears in his palm. He passes this hovering flame to Minh who stumbles to catch it into his own hands, “While Strange has to draw from a form or reality to perform his spells, all I have to do is imagine something to make it a part of reality.”</p>
<p>“Since my magic is illusions I can make something that already exists look like something else as well. I can also cast illusions on myself and others as well as....” Loki stares at him, the flame about to go into his mouth. He dissipates the flame before asking, “What exactly were you about to do with that?” His tone betrays his disappointment as to what the answer might be.</p>
<p>“Eat? It?” Minh says sheepishly. Loki sighs, mumbling something along the lines of all the mortals he knows lack common sense before finishing his sentence,</p>
<p>“All you need to know is that the thing that all magic users have in common is their seidr; where their magic comes from their body.” Minh nods, feeling awkward.</p>
<p>“Thanks for doing the dishes.” Before going to where everyone was gathered around the couch. He leaning against a corner as the rest of the group crowd around the other side discussing tour plans and Loki explaining why he liked watching Ponyo last night. Minh didn’t know when, but he closed his eyes to rest for a moment....</p>
<p>////////////////////////////////</p>
<p>He wakes to the sound of a door creaking. </p>
<p>Minh watched as his body sat up on his bed, the Las Vegas lights twinkling multicolored outside his window. In his omniscient view, he takes a leisurely sweep around his childhood bedroom; something feels off.</p>
<p>His spirit follows  as his body tiptoes to his doorframe taking a peek outside, planing to close the door afterwards. Instead, his body seems to notice something as they swing open the door to get a closer look. His body shuffled down the carpeted hallway as to not make sound and peeks into the door situated at the end that’s open the slightest bit.</p>
<p>Suddenly, he’s plummeted back into his past self and he could hear his heavy breathing as he takes in the dreadful scene before him.</p>
<p>His mom. His mom is covered in blood, but it’s not hers. The moment clicks within his head and he backs away guiltily. He can’t do anything to help his father, he can barely help himself.</p>
<p>He slips back into his now too-hot covers, fully aware of every sound and voice throughout the house as he earns a fitful sleep.</p>
<p>Minh wakes up from his memory in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as he calms down from his adrenaline rush. Sighing, he goes to get something to comfort himself before taking another nap.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>My WiFi went down for about two weeks but I made cake today so....</p>
<p>I hope that you all enjoy the chapters today!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Cow Goes Moo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Loki and the gang have a day out.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How about this one?” Morgan giggles, clearly finding enjoyment from this as Loki points out a four-legged black and white animal on the little ones’ library book.</p><p>“That’s a dairy cow! There’s also that other one called a beef cow which is self explanatory.” Loki nods at her explanation, helping her prop up the book about farm animals at a better angle.</p><p>“Alright kiddos, it’s time to get going!” They both groan in disappointment at the news, Tony patting both their heads in response.</p><p>“We’ve only been in here for 5 minutes.” Morgan pouts, hugging the farm animal book to her chest.</p><p>“It’s actually been two hours.” Loki blinks in astonishment, he had not noticed that time had passed so quick inside the library. “You sure none of you are hungry?” Morgan laughs sheepishly when her stomach answers for her with a small growl.</p><p>“Let us go and eat something, little one.” Even though Loki has a habit of refusing to eat, he definitely does not want to pass it onto her. As soon as they exit the building, Loki teleports out of the way of an overzealous Thor attempting to give him a hug.</p><p>“Why do you always reject my advances, brother?” He sounds hurt, even if he didn’t his expression would always give way to his true emotions. Thor has always been an open book whether he was aware of it or not.</p><p>“Because I have told you I am not yet comfortable with them.” Loki states curtly walking away with the group as Thor trails behind him.</p><p>“But you let friend Tony and Spiderling in. Why not me, your own flesh and blood?” Loki pinches the bridge of his nose, frankly tired of having to explain this to Thor over and over again. A million explanations flash through his mind, most of them not the best thing to say, but he wanted Thor to hurt a bit for his troubles. Loki perks up when he feels a familiar callused hand run through his curls, gently leaning into the welcoming touch.</p><p>“Thor, we’ve been over this together.” Tony says, patience stretching thin. Patience had never been one of Tony’s strong suits, however he seems to have endless amounts of it for his children’s problems which Loki has grown to appreciate. At first he had thought of it as pity and foolishly rejected the help Tony was offering him. Now he understood that this patience, not pity, was from a deep understanding from the mans own pains and misfortunes.</p><p>“Yes but-“ Tony raises a brow,</p><p>“What did we talk about?” Thor sighs, patience unfortunately not one of his strong suits either. Similar to Tony in that regard.</p><p>“Unless he trusts you enough you ask if he would like to be touched and to always ask if he would like to be hugged.” Thor repeats verbatim, to which Loki is not surprised. His brother, despite his warm demeanor, is a keen listener and always remembers something someone has said to either him or around him. “However, I feel as if this is all very unnecessary. Why should we have to treat him like a child, friend Tony?”</p><p>“Because he is one!” Tony shouts, causing Loki to flinch and pull away from him. People whisper around them none too subtly about the sudden outburst as Tony regains his composure.</p><p>“I’m sorry for shouting.” Loki nods, grateful for the apology as Tony turns to speak to Thor again, “His trauma is still new to him, so he’ll be more evasive to physical touch than  ever before. Touching him without his permission is like cutting a wound even deeper, it’ll get harder for him to heal.”</p><p>“Remember when I used to have horrible meltdowns in the Stark Tower? You hadn’t touched me without my permission until I gave you it. And if you’re able to give me, a stranger, that kind of respect, then give some to your own brother.” With that, the group walk away from a distraught Thor, letting him sort this out by himself.</p><p>Loki can’t help but feel giddy about that situation. No one had ever taken his side before in an argument, his mother having survivors instinct and would rather not get involved in the conflict. He snuggles into Tonys side in gratitude as they make their way towards a fish stall, Morgan rambling on about some sort of steamed dish that required a specific type of fish.</p><p>After taking a short detour into a clothing shop where one of Peter’s friends, MJ, introduced him to a brand that stitched pockets into their dresses; Loki happily added two more outfits to his wardrobe.</p><p>They walk back to Tony’s section of the cabin, the man himself going off to collect someone named Harley from the airport, opening the door to find Minh asleep on the couch with a plush elephant they had not seen with him before. After helping to place the fish inside the cooling box that Tony has told him is called a refrigerator, Morgan quite literally jumps on top of Minh to wake him up.</p><p>“Minh! You’ll never guess what we got at the market in town!” Minh groans in pain at her decision to jump on top of him, but gives her a weak smile in return. Loki scans his face, a habit he has never gotten rid of since his childhood. He notices with some concern that his eyes were rimmed red, having seen those eyes on Tony, Peter, and even Strange before. Morgan seems to notice this too, asking,</p><p>“Have you been crying Minh?” He stiffens at her inquisition, sitting up on the couch instead and offering to cook that fish for her, not at all mentioning her observation which she does not seem all that pleased with. “Minh, stop trying to change the subject.” This makes him pause before confessing,</p><p>“Yes I have, but I’m feeling much better now alright?” When she opens her mouth to speak again, he shuts her down saying, “I don’t want to talk about it.” As he makes his way to the kitchen where the others were to fillet the fish, leaving a visibly upset Morgan behind to hug presumably his elephant plushie.</p><p>Loki’s furious at him. However, he concedes as Tony has told him that anger never really solves anything, it usually just provokes the other party. Instead he goes to comfort the little one and ended up talking about the Titanic and how it was horrendously constructed until they were called over for video games as the fish steamed.</p><p>Loki perks up when he hears a familiar tune as Animal Crossing is pulled up to the screen. Peter has been playing this game nonstop since he had bought it from a video game store claiming that he wouldn’t be too invested in it.</p><p>Loki tenses when he sees Minh sit in between him and Morgan, about to lecture him about leaving the little one earlier until he hears a small giggle from Morgan receiving a hair ruffle.</p><p>“Want me to braid your hair?” Loki wonders if this was Minhs’ way of apology, Tony talking to him about how most mortals in a situation similar to his were never taught how to verbally express their regret and must rely on their actions instead. Loki himself usually apologizes inside this manner, Tony not pressuring him to attempt to verbalize his apologies.</p><p>Loki admires the intricacy of the braids, Minh pulling the braids neatly across her head to fall into a half-up hairstyle. Minh caught onto his fascination, offering to also stylize his hair. Loki frowns at his own hesitation, unsure if he was prepared for someone to touch such a sensitive part of himself yet. The only other person allowed was his mother, anyone else and he would have lashed out.</p><p>However, he does ever so want someone else to design his hair again especially since Morgans’ had turned out so well.... Perhaps it would not be so bad.</p><p>“Do your worst.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>